Offbeat

Posted on Monday, July 17, 2017

The social work profession, though considered noble, comes with a lot of pre-conceptions and assumptions in people’s minds. Stereotypes associated with social work can be frustrating and hilarious at the same time.

Here are a few that I have come across often:

All that’s required to enter the social space is good intent and a good heart!

That’s as good as saying that my love for cars automatically makes me a good automobile engineer or if I love suing people then I am a great lawyer! Just like Engineering, Law etc. becoming a relevant social worker should include a strong academic preparation through development studies, social work, public policy, development management etc. kind of programmes. Each of these areas requires a lot of technical hard work to develop the relevant knowledge and skillsets required to deliver sustainable

social impact and progress for the nation

My desire for a more relaxed, balanced life is driving me to the social sector!

One of the biggest challenges in the social sector is that it brings you face to face with the realities of life. A friend once actually told me that she can’t imagine working in the sector because it is disturbing. It is this reality which will drive you to work harder than you ever have because you can see that at some level your work is helping improve lives of the not so privileged. Sleepless nights, crazy adventures, physical fatigue, unheard of friends in unseen places and immense satisfaction, expect all of this and more in the social space! On a personal level, the social sector has demanded much more from me as compared to the corporate space.

You must be such a nice human being to work in this sector!

People are people everywhere with the same level of complexities, insecurities, strengths and failures. While passion for social change and a genuine connect with the people you are working with/for is a necessary precondition to be in this space for a long period of time (unlike the corporate sector where you can potentially be indifferent to your work and yet build a fairly successful career since money can be your primary driver), it does not make one a saint at any level. One should choose to work in this space primarily because one wants to work here and because it gives one happiness. Reasons like guilt and social power are useful but not necessarily sustainable reasons to work in the sector.

Oh but you are a social worker, why do you want money? Isn’t satisfaction enough?

A social worker just like any other person lives in a social reality, has to deal with individual, family and social expectations and would have his/her own desires as well and why shouldn’t they? The choice of working on the toughest problems facing large sections of society is challenging enough, why should a huge financial sacrifice be part of the initiation as well! The complexity of issues that this sector is trying to address is mindboggling and it really needs the brightest of minds to come and work here. We need to find ways of attracting the right talent rather than trying hard and harder to keep them away.

Many people have made a conscious choice of working in this sector for their own personal reasons. It reflects a choice of what they want to do and where they want to work and may not necessarily subscribe to the stereotypical notions mentioned above. Just like we call people Banking sector professionals, legal professionals etc. can’t we just be called ‘Development Sector Professionals’!? Just has a much more pleasing and ‘professional’ ring to it!